((Hi…I saw your blog from the rppetpeeves site, and I just gotta say that I really like your writing. I’d like to start doing more paragraphs myself, or at least practice doing them. What are some tips you would suggest grammar-wise and so on? ))
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//Holy mother of… I don’t even… Agh. Well, firstly, allow me to give you my most profound thanks for this, it’s an honour to be deemed good enough to offer advice to others…
Okay, so here goes, hm? Let’s see:
Listen to your sentences; do they sound and look right? The most common errors I see are:
- “they’re” (meaning “they are”) “their” (possessive, “that is their toy”) and “there” (spacial deixis, an indication of place, “he’s over there”)
- “where” (more spacial deixis, “where are you?”) and “were” (Past tense of “are”, “were you at the zoo yesterday?”)
- “your” (Possessive, “is that your car?”) and “you’re” (meaning “you are”, “you’re awesome”)
I know it’s pretty daft mentioning them, and it’s probably an insult to your intelligence, but the basics are key, really…-Use apostrophes correctly. If you’re not sure, google it. Just please, do not to say “Alex say’s” or “Lisa smile’s”.-Make sure your tenses are consistent; pick one and stick with it. No-one likes seeing present tense verbs in a past tense narrative, and vice-versa. It looks ridiculous. Most people prefer past tense narratives, as they’re more commonly seen, and (to me, at least) easier to follow. They’re usually easier to keep tenses with, too.-Use paragraphs correctly. New paragraph, new speaker. New paragraph, new topic. Stuff like that, y’know?-Picking an accent for your character is key. When you’re writing about a character with an accent, research it - write the dialect as it appears to sound. Listening to youtube videos, reading books with strong accents in (Wuthering Heights’ Joseph is a perfect example of accent)… Anything, really. It all helps in the long run. Be consistent in the accent, or as much as you can be.-Describe. For the love of the gods, describe. If you’re not sure what to use instead of “pretty”, just google “pretty synonym”, and plenty of websites come up. Just try not to use the same word three times in a sentence, it can get boring.-Don’t be afraid to use “said”, because “exclaimed”, “cried”, “pleaded” etc. can get tedious. It’s one of those words the brain automatically registers and skims over. Unless you really want to draw attention to the way in which something is said, try not to go over the top with your crying and exclaiming and pleading and begging and whatever the hell else you use.-Using a deus ex machina can be good - it can be great, like in Euripides’ Athenian Tragedy ‘The Medea’… However, it can backfire - it’s a double-edged sword, and one seen far too often in writing. It’s basically when your character says “I could really use a hand here”, then all of a sudden, lo and behold, someone comes swooping in to help! Just… Try to get your character to problem solve instead of bringing that in.-Give your character flaws. This speaks for itself; no-one likes a Mary-Sue.-Don’t mix up English and American spellings of things, no-matter how much spell-check wants you to (excuse the awful example);
“What do you mean ‘realise what you’re saying’?” I asked, but then, I realized exactly what was meant by it…‘Z’s and ‘S’s are the most common ones, I think… I hate it. Google tells me I’m spelling things incorrectly all the time because I’m English and it’s not.-Read your writing afterwards. Are there words that don’t fit the tone of the piece? It’s often you see adjectives and verbs and blah-blah sticking out like sore thumbs.-Three extra tips for describing things:
- Rule of three - you can use commas to separate them, or “and”, depending on the effect you want for your writing. “There were knives, forks and spoons all made of silver” gives an entirely different atmosphere to “there were knives and forks and spoons - all made of silver!”
- Similes and metaphors - Sometimes they can be a bit cliche, and sometimes cliche is good… But sometimes it can be very, very bad… Fiddle around with them - which sounds better? “His eyes were like electric, blue and sharp, and they watched me carefully”, or “his electric blue eyes, sharp and trained on me”
- Oxymorons - using these too much can be bad, but using them sparingly can give your writing a helping hand; things like “a terrible beauty” and “beautifully grotesque” work well… Again, just fiddle with it.
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If you’re really struggling with your grammar - have a word mixed up or something (i.e. “who’s” and “whose”) have a look at Grammar Girl.
I hope this was useful for you!
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